M-1 Custom 87 had major defect when it arrived

Updated
Kyle R.

I recently received an M-1 Custom 87 from Sweetwater. There was a major problem with the Floyd Rose tremolo resulting from a significant defect and lack of quality control with the tremolo cavity.

Initially, the bridge would not return to neutral. If I pushed it forward the strings would stay very flat. If I pulled it back, the strings would stay sharp. The only way to make it work was to guide the bar back to neutral and wiggle it.

When I took the plastic panel off the tremolo cavity, what I discovered was that the wood on the corner (by the low E side of the sustain block) had splintered significantly during routing. Instead of cleaning up the splintering, it was just painted over as is. What resulted was a rock hard protruding glob of splinters, paint, and clear coat jabbing into one of the springs.

I had to remove the whole tremolo and chisel off the glob. When I re-assembled everything, the tremolo perfectly returned to neutral each time. Even with brand new, unstretched strings and the locking nuts not even re-installed yet, it functioned about a thousand percent better.

Very disappointing that a $1,100 guitar had the type of quality control defect I would have expected from a $150 guitar.

ESP Customer Service

Hi Kyle,

We're sorry to hear about the issues you ran into with your new M-1 Custom 87. Unless the bridge had to be raised post purchase due to a preference for higher action, this issue should have definitely been caught prior to leaving ESP and prior to shipping from Sweetwater. As we do provide a Limited Lifetime Warranty we always suggest that you either reach out to the Dealer you purchased from or directly to ESP. We are glad to hear the issue has been resolved, but if we may provide any assistance please contact us at customerservice@espguitars.com or 800-432-8388.

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